Shanghai sees 2008 container traffic up 15 pct

BEIJING, Reuters (March 8) - Shanghai International Port (Group) Co (600018.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), operator of the world's second busiest container port, expects its container traffic to rise about 15 percent this year, company president Chen Shuyuan said.

That growth would be faster than the average for China's ports, although it would mark a slowdown from last year, when Shanghai's container throughput rose more than 20 percent to 26.15 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Last year's growth for the first time boosted Shanghai above Hong Kong, where container traffic fell 1.5 percent to 23.88 million TEUs as some shippers switched to other southern Chinese ports. Singapore remained the world's biggest container port with 27.9 million TEUs, up 12.7 percent.

Shanghai's traffic this year will be boosted by further expansion of its Yangshan deep-water port under phase III of the project, Chen told reporters late on Friday.

Excluding the Yangshan project, Shanghai International Port plans to invest about 4.5 billion yuan ($635 million) on expansion this year, of which 2 billion yuan would be spent on adding berths, Chen said.

The firm expects total cargo volume, including non-container traffic, to rise between 8 and 10 percent this year, he added. Shanghai is the world's busiest port in overall terms.

Chen said the company expected at the end of this year to form a previously announced venture with A.P. Moeller-Maersk Group (MAERSKb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to develop the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium. Shanghai International Port would hold 40 percent of the venture.

While Shanghai International Port has continued to consider the possibility of listing its shares overseas, it has no concrete plan at present, Chen said. ($1 = 7.10 yuan) (Reporting by Li Wenke; Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)